A Scrapbook of Student Stories

Couldn't control this disability...

Our daughter, Cassidy, was diagnosed with a serious epileptic seizure disorder. After working with local school officials in endless meetings, 504 plans, and IEPs we learned we were terribly wrong about being able to control this disability. We found an online public school that provides a structured, monitored and positive education for her with a wonderful teacher.

Cassidy

24 hour/day tube feeding...

My son contracted H1N1. In the hospital they diagnosed a secondary condition called SMA syndrome. Now he is required to be tube fed 24 hours a day. Online school makes it possible for our son to continue his education in a public school.

Riley

After months in the hospital...

Last year was really tough on our family. My 8 year old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia and spent half the year in the hospital and my 13 year old daughter fell behind in school. After enrolling in an online program their teachers placed them at the proper grade levels and they are getting the educational support they need.

Lettie

Injections weaken her immune system...

I enrolled my child in an online public school program because she has an auto immune disease. This disease can be very painful since it attacks the body's joints. My daughter receives weekly chemotherapy injections which lowers her ability to fight common colds and flu. We need the online learning option!

Jaden

Students  monitoring our streams...

Here's my son with intensive health issues running Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrogen, pH and other tests. His teacher arranged for his online classmates to help monitor Puget Sound streams. It is absolutely amazing to watch his progress!

Allen

Outstanding visual instruction helps overcome hearing disorder...

Brian has Audio Processing Disorder. He is unable to correctly process the sounds he hears. I am grateful there is a world-class curriculum that integrates outstanding visual instruction by blending online lessons with outstanding instructional materials that meet his needs.

Brian

Needs to move around...

My younger son has ADHD. It's easier for him to complete his assignments when he taps his pencil, moves around, chews gum, listens to music or takes a break.

Gavyn

Medical issue created disruption to everyone's learning...

Andrew

Panic attacks disrupted his schooling...

My son suffers from panic attacks. Enrolling him in online public school is the best decision we have made. Online school allows Anthony to succeed in school and, as a bonus, allowed Anthony to go with us to visit our family in Mexico when his grandfather died -without getting behind in his schoolwork.

Anthony

Illness kept her missing school...

Hannah has Cystic Fibrosis that caused her to often miss school. Since enrolling in an online program, she is able to focus on her school work, even with her medical challenges.

Hannah

Working at his own pace...

My son has dyslexia and thanks to online learning he can move ahead at his own level. He is ahead in math, so working online he can spend more time catching up in reading.

Jeremy

Online learning was a perfect match for Destiny's needs...

When we adopted Destiny, she was an abused seven year old, who could not count to five on her fingers. Our neighborhood school worked hard to meet her needs, but her anxieties distracted the other students.

The online public school was a perfect match for her. After extra sessions in special online workshops, she is now on track to complete fifth grade at grade level. She loves school. Destiny is learning to manage herself, her work and her time so she can fulfill her dream of going to college.

Destiny

Meeting the needs of students

who had difficulties in traditional settings...

Bullying and harassment...

My son experienced bullying and harassment in his traditional school. Now he is happier and we have the flexibility to do things like visit the state Capitol. Here is a photo of him with the Lieutenant Governor in the Washington State Senate. What a thrill! I need to mention that we also appreciate the beautiful books, science experiments and art supplies the online school provides.

Leamon

Learning in two languages...

After months of nightmares, I had to pull our daughter out of our neighborhood school. Since enrolling in the online program she has returned to being a healthy, self-confident child. She also is learning two languages, Japanese and English.

Erin

Lost his transportation...

Bus transportation was cut to our son's junior high. Walking to school, our son was seriously bitten by a pit bull. He's now a student in a fabulous virtual academy. We're thrilled with the curriculum and excellent teaching staff - it's like the light of learning has been turned back on!

Charles

Online learning is a lifeline...

Daniel had great difficulty in the traditional school. We never went more than a day or two without a call or note about some problem. The online public school is a lifeline for Daniel.

Daniel

Too much bullying...

Our daughter experienced too much bullying in our local school. We are glad we have this option to complete her elementary education in an online public school. We plan on enrolling her in traditional brick and mortar middle school when she gets there.

Annalisa

Online lessons with high school band...

Michael's learning problems and strong will have created serious clashes since he started school. Now he is able to succeed in an online program and succeed in his high school band, too. It's fantastic for him!

Michael

From tears to smiles...

After two years of coming home from school in tears most days, we enrolled our son in an online program. Now he works hard at his own pace. He is back to smiling again, too.

Nils

Upset all the time...

My three oldest children were educated in our neighborhood schools, but it simply did not work for my youngest. She was upset all the time. We could not afford a private school, so we really appreciate the quality of the online public school curriculum. The outings are really fun and the Elluminate classes are great, too.

Different choices work better for different children...

I have three children in our public schools and two in traditional brick-and-mortar schools and my middle child is enrolled online. No child is the same. My middle child, Gavin, is gifted, but was not succeeding in school.

In just one year of online school, Gavin has completed two years of math, a year and a half of Language and his medical problems are almost gone. But, best of all, Gavin has learned that he can succeed when he tries and can work without being stressed. The photo shows a combined science-vocabulary project, his electronic vocabulary quizzer.

Gavin

Strong willed child...

Benji is a very bright child who is also very strong willed. He needs to be challenged. The online program allows him to move at his own pace making sure he masters the subjects before he moves on. It also provides opportunities for him to delve deeper into the areas that especially interest him.

Benji

Previous boredom and behavior problems are behind him...

My son is an accelerated learner. Our local school could not individualize his courses, which resulted in boredom and behavior problems. Thanks to individualized online learning our son is flourishing academically, socially and emotionally.

Benjamin

Progressing at her own pace...

Leina's traditional public school was not able to adequately accommodate her advanced learning abilities. In her online public school she can progress at her own pace and even after the "lesson" is complete she can dig deeper to learn more about an academic subject. She has significantly more time to do her favorite art and science projects, too.

Leina

"Just help other kids learn"...

In Kindergarten my daughter was reading at a 3^rd grade level and school administrators did not know what to do with her since she was too young to skip a grade. They actually suggested she "just help other kids learn." Basically she was being asked to be a teacher's aide as a five year old. Fortunately we found an online public school program that is a perfect match for our child.

Kayla

Twice exceptional...

Both our children are gifted students and dyslexic. The online school allows them to excel in Math, Science and History, while spending the extra time needed to master Language Arts.

Logan and Cooper

Meeting the needs of students

with non-traditional family schedules...

Jobs require resources on-the-go...

Many of us working in the film and theater industry rely upon online public schools for our children's education. We need flexibility and resources that are on-the-go and available outside of traditional school hours. Now, anywhere we go, school is with us. It makes learning so natural.

Noah and Joey

Single parent...

I am a single parent working from home. I live in a rural area. Our online public school program allows my son to receive a rigorous education without long hours on the bus every day. 

Marie

Military family with triplets...

My husband was in the Reserves when our triplets were born. Now he is on active duty in the military. With our unpredictable work and family schedules, we knew we needed some flexibility. Online learning provides our family with needed flexibility.

Christopher, Stephanie and Nicholas

Great environment for teaching conservation on a boat...

We live in a self-contained environment depending on water tanks, fuel and batteries for our heat, light and water. There is no better environment for teaching conservation. We needed to change moorage in the middle of the school year and since the boys have had the same online teacher for two years, their school continued without interruption. The curriculum is world-class, too. Noah is excited about charts, navigation and sea creatures. Oceanography is his passion. Without question, our boys' educations are thriving aboard the boat. Noah and Jesse

Living at a remote camp in the mountains...

Our family lives and works at a rural camp in the Cascade Mountains. Without the online public school program, we do not know what we would do.

Hudah

Another Apollo Ohno...

It is over an hour's drive each way to the nearest regular school. Our children are happy and successful right here in their online programs. As they study online and workout as ski racers, they dream of making the U.S. Olympic Ski Team, much like Apollo Ohno, a former online high school student from our state.

Patsy and Sadie

Ideal for our bilingual family...

Our online public school program gives us a qualified teacher, mastery-based curriculum, flexibility and accountability ? whether my child needs to catch up, move ahead or wants to dig deeper into an interesting subject. We discovered online learning after cancer interrupted our schedules. Now we believe that online programs provide the ideal education for bilingual families, like ours.

Nick and Andrea

Blending three school experiences to meet his son's needs...

Ryan is at once (a) a top student needing rigorous curriculum (b) Special ed with autism and IEP and (c) a Junior in the band at our local high school. My husband, a school board member, discovered an online public school program that is an ideal learning environment for our son. The flexibility of blending the public school programs to meet our son's needs is extraordinary!

Ryan

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PO Box 14356

Seattle WA 98114

800-547-2764

info@waonlinefamilies.org

www.waonlinefamilies.org